It Comes to Us All
by talulahbridge
Summary: James Potter is the ultimate batchelor, picking up and dropping women all over the wizarding world, but emotions in a dangerous situation can change your outlook and one of them might just catch you when it comes to us all...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Still the eternal bachelor then Charlie?" Harry asked as he joined his sons and their Uncle at the garden table, "Though this is the first time in how many years that you have turned up at the annual leaving for school party without a new date!"

"Well, you know me, I like to keep you on your toes."

"I thought that's what the women did to you," Harry chuckled.

"Ah my young brother in law that is where you are wrong, it is I who keep the women on their toes! Do you see me laden down with a wife and children? Unable to wear the trousers in my own home-"

"E-hem," Harry coughed in retort to the statement.

"Oh come on Harry, Ginny wears the trousers, Fleur wears the trousers, Hermione, Audrey and Angelina all wear the trousers, I am the only free Weasley among you all apart from Ginny and she's a girl!" Charlie guffawed as Harry rolled his eyes in defeat. "I am a free man, living a woman free life, except for when I need a little bit of TLC if you know what I mean," he went on winking at his nephews sat opposite him at the table.

James and Vernon laughed along with him and looked at their father who responded with, "I wouldn't have it any other way!" as his wife appeared and sat on the chair arm beside him, his hand slipped absentmindedly around her waist and she leaned into him lovingly. Charlie watched them feeling that very small pang of jealousy that crept into his heart whenever he saw how happy his sister and her husband were. Even though he knew his brothers were all just as happy in their marriages as Harry and Ginny were he always saw something extra special between the two of them and ever since the year he had lived with his sister and watched her go through heartbreaking sorrow he had always been a tiny bit jealous of their special bond. However a couple of dates with the same girl was usually enough to remind him that he didn't really want to settle down with anyone and he would go on with his usual routine of changing girls almost as often as his robes and enjoying every free and single minute of it.

"Tell Dad about the last one," James said coyly adding, "better wait till Mum's gone though!" and she looked at him disapprovingly before standing up and heading off to another part of the garden leaving the boys to listen to the tales of bachelordom.

"Your Dad doesn't want to hear those stories boys, they are for the eternally single ones like us!" he chuckled looking slyly at his three companions, "Speaking of which, are we off to the Cauldron after Mum's served us dinner tonight? I said I might go along and meet one of the new recruits who was coming home for the weekend, she started three weeks ago and if I might be so bold she would be worth getting to know a little better," he went on raising his eyebrows suggestively at the boys. "She just moved over to our team from Germany, she's English though and a very pretty young girl, said she might bring a few friends along too!"

The boys' eyes suddenly lit up and Harry rolled his own at them, "I swear this is not the best way to live your life you two or should I say three?" he said glancing at Charlie too.

"Yeah we know Dad, settle down one day and produce hundreds of grandchildren for you, but while we are still young there's no harm in looking is there?" James replied. He had always been and still was a little in awe of his Uncle Charlie who had never married and always seemed to have a good tale to tell about the women. As a child he had found it strange that Charlie was single and always seemed to bring a different girl to family gatherings but as he became a teenager and was allowed to be part of the conversations about his conquests he realised that Charlie was an idol, someone he wanted to be like. He always imagined that one day he would eventually settle down with someone but for the time being he was quite happy to play the single man about town and without being too arrogant about it he knew that he was a bit of a heart breaker with women. James had never had a serious girlfriend because like his uncle he did not want to be tied to one girl, the most he ever achieved was four or five dates with one girl before searching out someone else to spend his time with. He lived in a flat with his friend Salamander Longbottom and he enjoyed being able to bring a girl back to the flat; have a little fun and then send them on their way again in the morning.

"So I'll tell her we'll be there then shall I?" Charlie asked eying James and Vernon while Harry rose from his seat and set out to find his other children.

"Don't lead my boys too far astray Charlie," Harry warned, "I do want grandchildren one day!"

"Lily will give you those," he replied cocking his head in the direction of the old rope swing where Harry's only daughter was being pushed gently by her boyfriend and current new resident in their home, Raulph Krum."

"Not for a very long time I hope," Harry replied sternly giving Charlie a glare that clearly told him to stop reminding him that his baby girl was actually grown up and in love with a boy who they all knew she was sleeping with. Charlie chuckled as Harry walked away and then turned back to his nephews so he could regale them with more of his womanising stories.

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Slowly wrenching open his eyes James Sirius Potter reached out to draw the curtains of his bedroom window closed, the blinding sun was doing nothing to alleviate the thumping in his head caused by too much firewhiskey and ale and he knew that the only way to try and get rid of it was to sleep a little longer. Once the curtain was closed he turned over in bed and a thin white hand slid up over his shoulder, he cocked one eye open again and looked down at a mass of wavy blonde hair which was strewn across a naked body beside him. One glance around the room reminded him of the previous evening and he smiled cockily to himself as he remembered chatting up the pretty girl in his bed and managing to bring her home for a quick but satisfying shag. He saw her clothes strewn around the bedroom, bright magenta bra over his quidditch trophies on the shelf above the bed, matching lace thong on the bedknob at the bottom of his king size, skirt and blouse discarded on the floor and a pair of three inch black stiletto sandals left haphazardly by the door. James smiled cheekily to himself before moving the girl's hand back onto the other pillow and returning to his slumber hoping to alleviate the throbbing in his brain.

He woke a few hours later and found that the girl was now awake and stroking his shoulders with long fingernails, he groaned a little as he came round from slumber and opened one eye to see her, she had large breasts and a slender waist and he found himself instantly aroused by her. Smiling cockily at her he rolled her over onto her back and began to bury his face between her breasts while she giggled furiously, in all honesty the noise was quite annoying and James suddenly began to feel the need to be alone and nurse his hangover. He quite quickly pushed himself into the excited girl who was almost begging him to take her and within a few minutes he was spent inside her and laid on his back again completely satisfied but ready to get rid of the blonde who was smiling sickeningly at him.

James was good at pulling girls but found it hard to get rid of them the next morning as he hated to be to blunt with them, he tried not to come across as arrogant but once he had had his way with a girl he wanted to be alone and rarely felt like doing it again the next morning.

"Last night was fun," the girl said, what the hell was her name? James thought to himself, "And this morning too," she went on clearly hoping that they could do it again sometime.

"Hmmm," James replied sitting up on the bed and trying to find some underwear in the bedside drawer, he could remember what had happened the previous night even though some parts were slightly hazy but was not in a rush to do it again. After the usual feast provided by his Grandmother, he, his Uncle Charlie and his adopted brother, Vernon, had flooed away from the annual gathering to see the Weasley family children off to Hogwarts and into the Leaky Cauldron where they had met up with Charlie's new colleague. Joanna worked with him out in Romania but had been visiting home for the weekend, she was an attractive young woman in her mid twenties with thick, long brown hair and dark eyes. She was tall and had an athletic physique which was typical of Charlie's taste in women. She had brought along her younger sister, Maria, and her friend...what was her name?

The six new acquaintances had bought a bottle of firewhiskey and ensconced themselves in a dark corner of the Leaky Cauldron where they had wasted no time in emptying the contents. The blonde had taken quite a liking to James and after a few shots of the red liquid on their table James had found her sitting on his knee whispering into his ear. Having had about the same to drink in the pub before they turned up along with a few tankards of ale at the Burrow James had been rather susceptible to the girl and enjoyed stroking her long bare legs as she swung her arms around his neck and batted her eye lids in his direction. He had not needed much more persuasion to invite her back to the flat and he recalled leaving Charlie, Vernon and the two sisters at the table while they flooed back to his home, she, giggling all the way and he, hungry to have his way with her. The pair had stumbled through to the bedroom, laughing as they began to remove each others' clothes, and fallen naked to the bed in a drunken heap. James remembered having quite quick sex with her paying little heed to her own pleasure before collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep within moments of his head hitting the pillow.

"Don't get up yet," she said stroking his bare back with the fingernails and pouting...Sharon? Shauna? He was sure it began with a sh sound, "we could have a lot more fun if you stayed here!" Charlotte...? No.

"Sorry..." girl who's name I can't remember, "I...I have to go and see my...my sister, she's going back to school today and I promised I would call in at home before she left," he turned to look at the pouting face of Sh...Ch...Chantelle! That was it, "I'm sorry Chantelle, maybe some other time?" he muttered knowing that he would never see this girl again if he could help it.

"I hope so," she replied rather desperately and James groaned inwardly, the only problem with bringing them back to the flat was that they knew where he lived, he should get his father to help him make the place unplottable then at least they wouldn't be able to get back there again.

"Sorry to rush you," he said standing up and handing Chantelle her skirt and top from the floor, "but they'll be leaving at half past ten and I promised to be there before then," he glanced at the clock on the wall which showed nine fifty-five as he pulled on a pair of casual trousers and a quidditch shirt. Chantelle dressed slowly as James attempted to tidy up part of the bedroom wishing the girl would get a move on so he could have the flat to himself. Eventually she was ready and carrying her shoes in her hands she walked behind him to the flat door, "Well...goodbye then," James said as he opened the door for her to leave. She hung around in the doorway for a few seconds looking like she was expecting something so he leaned over to kiss her more to get her to leave than because he wanted to.

"So...I'll floo you sometime?" she said smiling and looking up at the dark haired boy through fluttering eyes.

"Er...yeah, yeah if you want, anyway I've got to go...sister to see off to school and all that, bye," he added smiling and closing the door on the now pathetic looking girl in his hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief as the door met its jamb and then leaned back against it running his hands through his hair and down his face. Remembering that he still had a bit of a hangover he walked away and within minutes he was stretched out on the couch with a copy of a wizard's magazine enjoying the silence with a glass of hangover potion beside him.

"Another lady fawning all over you then?" asked a voice from another doorway, "Honestly James I don't know how you do it," Salamander chuckled walking over to a matching brown leather chair beside the sofa, "every night a different one, and every morning another excuse to get rid of them! Won't Lily already be on her way to the station in a ministry car with your Dad?" he goaded and James threw a cushion in at his face which he managed to duck while laughing heartily.

"It's not funny," James chirped.

"It is, when it's every weekend James, I'm surprised there are still some women out there that you haven't slept with!"

"Hey we're not all the settle down types like you and Alby! Some of us are happy to be free to play the field a little!"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before," Salamander retorted.

"He bugging you about being in a relationship again?" asked a soft voice from Salamader's bedroom doorway behind the couch, "He's only jealous!" it went on, "You and Alby have found someone, Lily is deliriously happy and even Vernon is seeing someone regularly, even if he does try to hide it most of the time, our Jamesy is feeling all left out and trying to make himself feel better by sleeping with anyone and everyone," the voice taunted as a tall blonde came into view and sat down on the arm of Salamander's chair.

"Vernon's only seen that girl three times, he says it's not going anywhere."

"Ha," laughed Gloria, Salamander's almost live in girlfriend, "that's just what he tells you, he's been seeing her for nearly two months and almost everyday, he just doesn't want you to know that he's actually developing feelings for her, he can't let the boy's club down!" Her reward for the comment was another cushion which his head had been laid on but his aim was off due to the enormous hangover he was still suffering from and she just laughed at him.

"Hey, if Vernon wants to get tied down that's his prerogative, I'm quite happy with the way things are in my life thank you very much," halfway through that sentence the doorbell had rung and Gloria had jumped off the chair to answer it.

"What even if they come back to haunt you?" she teased turning around to look at James with wild eyes and a smirk on her face, she had spied through the peephole and seen who was standing in the corridor outside.

"Oh you have got to be kidding," James replied jumping to his feet and wincing at the throb in his head as he did so, "I'm not here, I'm off to Grimmauld place to recover, tell her I'll be out all day!" and with that he apparated immediately, if a little off balance, and landed on the doorstep of his childhood home seconds later where he intended to spend the rest of the morning recovering.

"Is it really her?" Salamander said back in their shared flat and his girlfriend broke down in hysterics as she opened the door to reveal Salamander's sister, Consuella, who had promised to visit that day. "You're evil," he laughed at her jumping from his seat to hug his sister.

"Well, it'll get rid of his whining for the day. James is a nightmare when he's got a hangover!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Ready for your first day?" James asked his sister's boyfriend jovially while winking at his mother and father who were sat at the breakfast table with him.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Raulph replied looking rather nervously at his girlfriend's eldest brother, he was a little bit wary of James Potter after having got his one and only sister into a dangerous situation earlier in the year and even though Lily had assured him that the whole family had forgiven them for the mistake they had both made, he still felt a little nervous with her oldest brother when he did not have Lily by his side.

"Come on then," James went on, "we can floo straight to the ministry from here and you'll be up in the auror office in plenty of time! Though they'll probably drop dead when they see me in there an hour before my shift starts!" he chuckled.

Raulph stood up and headed for the fireplace where Harry clapped him on the back and Ginny wished him luck then he stepped into the fire ahead of James and shouted, "The ministry," disappearing in a whirl of flames and appearing seconds later in the bustling main atrium of the British Ministry of magic. James appeared behind him and together they set off in the direction of the elevators which would take them to the auror's office on the fourth floor.

"What are you doing here so early?" asked a bemused looking administrative worker with long dark wavy hair and a cherub face on the main desk of the auror office.

"Well, you've got to make a good impression occasionally," he chuckled winking at Raulph as he leaned onto her desk, "thought if I got here early enough I might have a chance to chat to the beautiful Annemarie," he said suavely leaning over and smiling at her.

"It's not going to work James!" she replied pushing her chair back on its wheels and smiling back at him as she stood up with a pile of papers to be filed. "He tries it every day," she went on directing her conversation at Raulph, "you'd think he'd have got the message by now wouldn't you?" Raulph smiled a little as she continued, "James Potter, you are a well known womaniser and I am not going to be one of your notches, now I presume this is a new recruit," she gestured to Raulph, "judging by the nervous look on his face!"

"My sister's boyfriend," James replied standing up straight and returning to his companion's side, "promised her I'd bring him in for the first day and make sure no one was mean to him!" he joked nudging Raulph in the ribs with his elbow.

"Well tip number one," she said turning to look at Raulph again, "stay away from Mr Potter!"

"How dare-" James retorted and she began to laugh interrupting his rant.

"Thinks he has a special way with the ladies, but ask him how many of the auror department he's managed to get back to his flat."

"I think we'd better get you over to the new recruit's office," James said hurriedly quickly ushering Raulph past her desk.

"Oh no," Annemarie said stepping in front of them both, "that's my job," she added, "making sure they are not led astray by the current aurors!" and she took Raulph by the arm and steered him away from the affronted looking James. "By the way the answer was none of them!" she chuckled glancing back at James who shot her a very nasty look, "his reputation precedes him!" And she just caught his rude hand gesture before she took Raulph around a corner in the direction of the new recruit's office.

Annemarie reappeared a few minutes later and found James chatting up the new blonde receptionist who was laughing at his jokes and being drawn into his little web, "Stay away from that one Joanne," she chuckled as she took her seat at the main desk again, "he only wants to add you to his list of conquests, one quick lay and you'll never hear from him again!"

"Annemarie!" James barked angrily rounding on her as the pretty blonde turned her back on him and continued with the paperwork she was filing, "You spoil all my fun, if you're not going to go out with me yourself at least let me find someone who will!"

"What so I can sit here and listen to them whining to me? 'Why hasn't he flooed me? Oh James he's so...and so...' no thanks," she replied pretending to stick her finger down her throat and gag.

"Nobody has ever done that to you have they?" James asked his spirit lifting again at the thought that she had heard compliments about him.

"No, I'm just doing a pre-emptive strike," she said, "and making sure that it doesn't happen!"

James snorted at her and then sat on the edge of her desk, "You're only jealous," he said.

"Of what?" she shrieked, "How can I be jealous when I've turned you down half a dozen times or more!"

"Because you haven't got the guts to say yes, you're too scared of your own feelings for me," he went on lifting his eyebrow cockily at her and she swiped her hand at his leg before standing up to welcome another pale and worried looking young man who presented himself as Michael Woodhand.

"Of course James, of course," she joked leading the second new recruit down to the office.

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"Maybe you should just go down to your office and get some work done early," she said to James when she returned to find him chatting to a young girl who was obviously here for the new training team too, he was regaling her with wild stories of his time as an auror and Annemarie rolled her eyes at him before leading the girl away and repeating her warning to stay away from James Potter. This time when she returned James was sat at her desk twiddling a quill around in his hands, his feet were up on the paperwork she still had to file and his eyes looked furious.

"Stop it Annemarie," he chided in a mock hurt voice when she pushed his feet down from the papers, "I wasn't hurting anyone," he went on.

"What by making up false stories of heroism? You haven't been on one dangerous mission yet James Potter," she chuckled, "Now get out of my chair, some of us are here to work! And stop worrying the newbies, they are scared enough on the first day! That one," she gestured her head in the direction she had just returned from, "was almost as scared as you were on your first day!"

"What?" James spluttered standing up and giving her a vehement glare, "I was-"

"Terrified out of your wits," she laughed, "oh yeah you came in trying to act all confident and sophisticated but you were as white as a ghost and stuttered though every word!"

"I...I..." he tried to reply utterly aghast at what she was saying.

"Aww, Jamesey, have I upset you twice now? Turning you down again and reminding you that you weren't always the cocky auror that you are now!" she laughed and he pretended to look hurt. "Oh come off it James, we have a love hate relationship and always have, surely you are used to my teasing by now!"

"So you do love me then?" he asked a cocky smile returning to his face.

"You know exactly what I mean!" she replied not falling for his wind up.

"You said you loved me, I'll remember that Annemarie, I'll remember it!"

"You can remember it as long as you want to James Sirius Potter, but it's never going to happen!"

"Just you wait for Abery's retirement do," he said getting up from the chair and sitting down on her desk again smiling serenely at her, "once you're swept up by the magical lights and the beautiful dresses, you'll see me in a whole new light, I'll be like a different person to you."

"Yes," she laughed, "because you'll be on your best behaviour with your Mum and Dad there!"

"I...what? You..." he spluttered and she pushed him off her desk with one sweeping motion.

"Some of us have work to get on with," she giggled looking up as another ashen faced young man approached her desk, "and this time when I come back I don't want to find you here hassling the newbies or the office staff, got it?"

"Ohh I love it when you're commanding," he guffawed and she swiped at him again before leading the recruit round the corner and off to the office. When she returned he had taken her advice and left and she sat back in her seat a little downhearted that he had actually taken her word and left as winding up the impossibly attractive James Potter was one of the highlights of her days.

_Important team briefing in Room D,10am, all junior and senior aurors must attend along with leading administration staff._

The memo zoomed into his hand at nine thirty and James' face lit up, team briefings usually meant some kind of mission and he was desperately hoping to be sent on his first one soon, so far he had only been involved in minor situations involving visits to Azkaban and a few liaison meetings with other ministries around the world, this was the first briefing he had been requested to attend which included both senior and junior members. James was a junior member having been a fully qualified auror for a little less than a year, senior members held higher positions which could not be taken until they had been with the office for at least five years. His father had been a senior member throughout his whole auror career but James knew that was because he had taken on his most dangerous mission due to a prophecy and not because he had trained to be an auror, his father had also still been a seventeen year old schoolboy at the time. James did occasionally envy his father as he was more than ready to go up against dark wizards and prove his worth and of course as soon as his name was mentioned anywhere everyone remembered the boy who lived who had saved wizard kind from evil over two decades ago and everyone expected James to live up to the same reputation, he was just desperate to be given a chance to try.

He watched the clock tick by for the next twenty minutes, idly thumbing through some documents and folders on his desk which had come from the Irish auror office the previous week and then stood up to head down to briefing room D on the lower floor. The auror office was a large department and though the main reception and most individual offices were on the fourth floor of the Ministry, they did have stairs access down to the third floor where most of the large rooms were housed which could accommodate numerous aurors for important briefing and training meetings. James passed room C on his way and saw the room full of new recruits being addressed by Simon Abery, the current head of the auror department and Terence Beerney, the man due to replace him in a months time as Abery took early retirement having served twenty years in the department. He smiled to himself as he thought back three years to his first day in the department and then realised that Annemarie had not known what she was talking about, he had always been confident about becoming an auror even on his first day of training. James took a deep breath before entering room D preparing himself for what he hoped was a briefing for a more substantial and perhaps more dangerous mission.

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"This is Michael MacNair, grandson of a death eater of Lord Voldemort's who was locked up in Azkaban until his death five years ago. He was schooled in northern Russia where he has been educated to believe that muggles should be inferior to wizard kind and serve them as the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, once believed. The Russian Ministry are struggling to contain a growing number of followers to a dark wizard calling himself the High Lord and are using all of their current resources to contain him but he is hidden underground and using a range of tactics to try and overthrow the Ministry so that he can become supreme ruler of the Russian wizards and foist his opinions and ways upon them all. It is rumoured that MacNair has returned to Britain in the hopes that he can raise a large group of wizards who are sympathetic to the High Lord's cause, these wizards will join him and once the Russian Ministry is thwarted they intend to move from country to country trying to bring wizard kind out into the open to rule over muggles and oppress their way of life into subservience to us." This was Abery's address to the whole of Room D who sat silent and listened to his brief. "It is still early days in Russia but they are suffering both muggle and wizard losses as the High Lord's campaign continues, they are using inferi and the imperious curse to spread their cause and persuade people to join them." Abery looked very grave as he continued his address and then shocked them all by adding, "I will therefore be postponing my retirement while we attempt to deal with this upsurge in the hopes that we can at least stop it from spreading into our country."

The room gasped at his announcement and they all looked across at Beerney who did not appear to be flummoxed by the news at all. "Our intention is to find and capture MacNair before he has chance to recruit people to his cause and we are planning to send you all out into the field, juniors and seniors alike, to either find him or stop him from communicating with some of the more likely wizards to take up his cause. You will be grouped together into junior and senior members and each of you will take a leading administrator to record all movements and attempts undertaken. You will take sleeping and living quarters with you and be assigned to various places around the country where our recognisance team have seen MacNair operating. He has attempted to speak to many of the old wizarding families who were known death eaters and we know that many have turned him away but of course there are those who could be telling us this while still secretly joining him and biding their time until he has a large following before coming out to the world.

Your mission is to watch the family and the area which you are assigned to, try and infiltrate the homes if possible and record any conversations or meetings concerning the High Lord or MacNair and his campaign. Aurors will need to report back to administration staff who are under no circumstances to place themselves into any kind of dangerous situation, you are there in a clerical position only and will be required to record and send back to us any pieces of information that the aurors find," he went on turning to look at the administration team who were all sat together at the back of the room, they nodded agreement and continued to listen to the head of the auror department.

"Administrators will follow orders from senior aurors in their individual team but will report to the junior officers in the absence of senior staff, is that clear everyone?" he asked to the room at large and they all nodded their agreement. "Good and thank you everyone, your teams will be distributed later this afternoon along with all necessary paperwork and information that you will require, team tents can be collected by junior aurors at seven am tomorrow morning when your assignments will begin. Once the teams have been organised I expect you to meet in the senior member's office at three pm this afternoon to go over your individual assignment and discuss anything that you need to before starting the mission in the morning. Thank you for your time everyone and I apologise that the party has been postponed, I can assure you I am as gutted as the rest of you are," he chuckled trying to end the meeting on a lighter note.

At three o clock that afternoon James knocked on the office door of Blaise Zabini who was the senior auror he had been assigned to work with on the mission. Blaise had been an auror for over twenty years but was not yet ready for retirement, he had been a Slytherin at Hogwarts in his father's year and had been friends with some of the children of death eaters at the time. However he had proved himself as a non dark wizard when he had joined the fight against Voldemort and most of his own friends who were fellow death eaters and helped to bring them all down at the final battle. Zabini had fought alongside James' father during their early days as aurors and he himself had been pleased to learn that the former auror's son was to be his partner on this mission.

"Come in," Blaise called at the knock and James opened it to see him sat behind his desk, a familiar looking dark head of hair was sat with her back to him and James smiled slyly when he realised that the administrator assigned to his mission was Annemarie. She swung her chair around and smiled at him as he sat down beside her and then the two of them looked to their head auror awaiting their instructions. "Well, team," he began smiling at them both, "we are team nine and have been assigned to watch over the Malfoy Manor in Surrey where Draco Malfoy and his wife live. Now you, James, of course will be better acquainted with Scorpius Malfoy, Draco's son," he went on as the junior auror pulled a face, "I take it you got on at school as famously as Draco and your father did?" he chuckled as James nodded his head. "I can imagine," he continued, "Harry and Draco's relationship was anything but friendly even though your father did in fact end up saving his life which is probably why they were able to call a civil truce of sorts between each other, eventually. I'm guessing the truce did not extend to their sons?" He asked and James shook his head as he remembered the numerous pointless arguments that he and Scorpius had had during their time at school together. However none of them had been remotely serious compared to the fact that he might be alleging himself with a dark wizard and James prepared himself to come across a more angry and violent Malfoy than the one he had encountered at school.

"Now as far as I know," Zabini went on Scorpius is still living at home with his mother and father in the Malfoy manor house, Lucius died a few years ago but as far as I know Narcissa is still living with them too. If I know Draco as I did in school he will be far to afraid to fraternise with any dark wizards without a hoard of other supporters so I imagine if he's already been approached he has either turned MacNair down or he has told him to come back when he has a larger group behind him. Scorpius however I do not know at all so he may be the one we need to watch carefully." James smirked at Blaise who understood that Scorpius may be a little more action than mouth unlike his father had been. "We set out at seven am tomorrow morning and we will camp in the woodland beside Malfoy manor, I visited the house many times as a schoolboy and know that there are a few secret entrances we will need to watch carefully. Potter you will need to get the tent from the store before you leave tonight and Annemarie you need to collect together all supplies for paperwork that you think we will need for the mission. It is up to you how you record what we do but it needs to be transferred to Abery on a daily basis and you will be in charge of that, do you understand?"

"Yes Zabini," she replied nodding.

"Right, well as I said we leave from this office at seven am, bring along everything you will need for a long trip as I am not sure when we will be able to leave the manor, we need to watch it at all times either until something happens there or MacNair is caught. Until tomorrow then," he said standing up and shaking the other two members of his team by the hand.

James and Annemarie rose and shook the proffered hand before exiting the office together and closing the door behind them, "So," James said smiling, "in the absence of the senior auror the administration staff will be required to follow orders given by the junior aurors, are you prepared to do what ever is asked of you?" he chuckled raising his eyebrows at her.

"James, this is serious," she scolded looking at him aghast.

"I know and I'm taking it seriously Anne, when we are out there in the field nothing is more important than the safety of the team, you know I wouldn't seriously abuse my position, I was only joking." He said looking hurt and severe for once.

"You're right, I'm sorry, you are a good auror James despite your skills at being a man," she chuckled and then returned a serious look again, "you wouldn't do that James I know, but just because I might have to follow your orders one day does not mean you can joke about them now, I am a free woman and I will only follow those orders which relate to my job and my safety," she added, "and as I won't be seeing this other side of James Potter for a while now that the party is off, I won't be seeing you in a new light so any other orders are off the menu!" she joked walking away to gather her things for the impending mission.

James grimaced and watched her go, her long dark hair swinging behind her as she walked away, she was an attractive girl and he enjoyed the banter they had with each other but in all seriousness he did not want to spoil that by making her one of his conquests because he knew that he would treat her the same way he did every other girl and then he would miss their cheeky interactions at work. He sighed knowing that if they were just two random people who met in a bar he would love to have his way with her as her cherub face and sensual eyes were mesmerising when they were not goading each other and another part of him still longed to find out if she would be as good in bed as he imagined her to be.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks to my reviewers. This is only a shorty really but it was in my head and needed to be written! Hope you enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 3

"Across here," James whispered grabbing hold of Annemarie's hand and pulling her safely over a small stream which ran through the garden and into the trees, he could hear her ragged breathing as he pushed her against a tree and backed himself against her. She was whimpering slightly and he squeezed her hand to try and reassure her while holding up his wand in the other hand and waiting for anyone who might have seen them disappear into the trees. "Shh," he murmured to her as his body covered hers protecting her from anyone who might find them, two bodies came dangerously close to finding their hiding spot and whizzed past the clump of trees, they were covered in dark cloaks and barely visible against the dark night. "Stupify," James whispered and a jet of red light shot from the end of his wand catching one of the bodies in the back and sending him forwards onto a patch of grass. The sound the body made as it hit the grass alerted the other person to their presence and he turned around and stared at the clump of trees where they were, Annemarie sobbed a little when she realised that they had been spotted and James backed himself even further into her desperate to keep her out of the fight.

When Blaise had not returned after the statutory sixty minutes James knew he had to go after him and had ordered Annemarie to stay hidden in the tent but she had refused to follow his order even though she knew she should have. This was the first time Blaise had not returned to the tent after his daily evening sweep of the outskirts of the manor they had been watching for almost a month. On a daily basis Annemarie had sent a report to the auror department stating that nothing out of the ordinary was happening in Surrey but tonight they had heard a commotion shortly after Zabini had left and when he did not return within the hour James had got himself ready to go into the fray. His order to Annemarie had been to stay in the tent and if he had not returned contact either by coming back or sending a patronus within the hour to contact the auror department as was standard practise and request back up, but Annemarie had been more terrified of staying alone in the tent when it was obvious that something was going on and she was terrified that she would be found while waiting to hear from James. It was at her terrified insistence that he had agreed against his better judgement to her coming along but only after she had promised to follow his every order without question. James had known that he was taking a risk but had had to set out after Zabini as was ministry protocol before requesting any back up.

Now they were both stuck in the middle of the manor's acres of garden unable to call for assistance and James was kicking himself knowing that he had endangered Annemarie's life and was now unable to alert anyone to their plight, "Incarcerous," James shouted pointing his wand forwards at the second hooded figure who was advancing upon them alone, ropes flew from the end of his wand and fastened themselves around the man who struggled against the bonds. "Petrificus totalus," he added causing the body to bind itself together so that he could not call for help or attempt to signal any of the other men patrolling around the manor. James looked wildly around from where they were trying to figure out how they could get back to the tent without being seen, they could not apparate into it as it was protected by enchantments, the only way was to run on foot and hope they were not seen by anyone.

"Come on," James whispered pulling Annemarie through the trees and in the direction of their haven, even though James knew it could now be only a matter of time before it was no longer safe. She followed him without question stumbling a little as they ran down the side of the small stream whose banks were littered with pebbles and stones. James was ever alert and looking around for any sign that they had been followed but they looked to be somewhat in the clear and after one mad dash they were over the hedge and the spot where the tent was hidden came into sight. "Go," he shouted to her as he noticed another hooded figure along the hedge, "get inside," he screamed as the figure spotted them and began to advance in their direction.

"James," Annemarie called as he turned on the figure.

"Just get inside," he shouted at her, "and don't do anything." She ran at full speed in the direction of the tent and disappeared from view as she was swallowed by the enchantments protecting their hideout. Once inside the tent she noticed how wildly her heart was beating and she suddenly began to sob uncontrollably as she realised that James was still outside and there was nothing she could do to help him. The terrified woman stood stock still by the entrance listening to her own breathing and trying to regulate her heart, she had never been so scared in her life and did not know what she should do next, James had said not to do anything but surely she needed to contact the aurors and request back up. Looking around the tent for inspiration as to what to do she saw the transmitter which they used every day to send their reports, however it needed to be done from outside the tent and if she went back out there she could be caught by whoever James was now duelling. No doubt others would have joined him by now and she was suddenly afraid again for the safety of her friend and team member. A patronus, she thought gasping suddenly, could send a patronus from inside and tell the ministry what was going on, grabbing her wand from inside her pocket she prepared to cast the spell but instead screamed loudly as the wand was knocked from her hand mid wave and she was grabbed from behind by a pair of strong arms which wrapped themselves around her.

"No," a voice bellowed and her heart relaxed as she realised that it was James and not one of the other wizards who had been chasing them back to the tent. "You can't cast anything," he added releasing her from the firm grip and trying to catch his breath he still had his arms around her and she leaned into him a little in relief that he had come back unscathed. "They know we are here," he went on releasing her completely and walking over to the transmitter to disable it, "they'll be watching the whole area for any signs of magic which will let them know exactly where the tent is, if they find the exact location they can remove our enchantments and we'll be caught," he heard Annemarie catch her breath and James looked back around to see her standing shaking still near the entrance to the tent. "No, it's okay," he added quickly jumping to his feet, "they can't find the exact location unless we use magic, otherwise all they can do is patrol the outskirts of the manor until we do."

"What...what about that last one, he saw where I disappeared didn't he?" she asked in a scared voice.

"I confunded him," James replied, "he won't be able to tell them anything for a few days."

"But what...what can we do now?" she asked still shaking and he tightened his hold on her to try and comfort her.

"Nothing," he said and a small sob escaped her lips again. "We wait, when we haven't been in touch with the office by the morning they will send back up immediately and then we can get you back to safety," he reassured her.

"But what about you?" she asked suddenly.

"I'll be in the fight," he went on, "with back up of course."

"So we just have to wait?" she asked in a timid voice, "All night?"

"Yes," he said trying not to betray the fact that the auror department might not realise who had not been in touch for a couple of days and he knew that he might need to come up with a better story in the morning. However his only concern at the moment was getting Annemarie to calm down and sit tight as that was the only thing they could do until the auror office realised what was going on, "Shh," he said soothingly as he stroked her back.

"James?"

"Hmm?" he replied distractedly scanning the room to ensure that there were no weak spots in the enchantments.

"Will they find us?" she asked weakly.

"Not if I can help it," he replied guiding her over to a chair in the centre of the room so he could double check all the enchantments, "just wait here while I run over the tent," he said leaving her in the chair and dashing from one side to the other checking through the flaps with his wand to make sure everything was still holding up. He turned back to look at Annemarie who was sat in the chair with her head in her hands, she was suddenly so vulnerable and he felt for the girl who should never have been put in such a position. What they had seen tonight, what she had been through, she wasn't trained for that, she was a clerical worker and nothing more and he should never have allowed her to accompany him in the search for Blaise. He could see her shoulders shaking and he walked over to sit beside her in another chair.

"I should have stayed here," she whispered, "I should have stayed and then I could have alerted the Ministry, we were gone for more than an hour, I should have stayed here and waited until you didn't return and then contacted the department, they would have come and helped but now...now, I'm sorry James, I should have followed your orders," Annemarie looked up then and stared at him through enormous eyes, she was scared and he knew it.

"It's not just your fault Annemarie," he said soothingly taking her hand in his to try and offer her more comfort, "I agreed to let you come instead of insisting you stay here as I should have. I knew that something must have happened and that you weren't trained for what was out there, you should never have been a part of it but I gave in easily, allowed you to join me, maybe because I wanted a bit of support for myself." He smiled weakly, "Don't blame yourself Annemarie, it was both of us."

"But now we are stuck, and...and...Zabini's...Zabini's body," she stuttered dropping her head into her hands again. They had managed to creep up to the manor house unnoticed and entered through a secret doorway that Blaise had told them about, it had brought them out into a long marble floored corridor which ran the length of the house and they had slunk along it keeping to the shadows to avoid detection. Following the sound of muffled voices they had come to stop by a large oak door which was open and James had peered around the side to see what was going on, in the middle of the room was a large mahogany table around which were seated a whole host of hooded figures and suspended in the air above the table was Zabini's limp body. At the head of the table sat MacNair who James had immediately recognised from the pictures stuck up in the tent and he was twirling his wand around in his hand casually while pointing it at the hanging body. There was a discussion going on around the table but after a few more minutes MacNair asked in a deep drawling voice, "You are not alone auror, you are never alone, where are the others? Where are they spying from?"

James had then noticed that Zabini's eyes were open and that they were staring at the dark haired ugly faced man who was speaking to him but Blaise had not responded. MacNair had then proceeded to cast the cruciatus curse on the dangling body and he had watched in horror as the senior auror's body had contorted into bizarre and impossible shapes as it attempted to turn itself inside out. They had cast a muffliato spell over his body so the screams of pain could not be heard but James could see the pain in his eyes and he knew there was nothing he could do to help. Ministry protocol was to send for backup and he knew that they had to get back to the tent and contact the department immediately, they were outnumbered by many and would have no chance at fighting to release Zabini from his position. As James was deciding on his course of action however Annemarie put her head around the door to see what he was looking at, when she saw the strangely contorted body in the air a short sob escaped her lips, it was muffled but enough to alert the hooded figures in the room to their presence. All the heads had swung in their direction and as James grabbed her hand and hurtled back down the corridor he had heard MacNair's drawling voice utter, "Ahh, the others, I knew you were not alone auror, they have given themselves up!"

However he had heard no more as the footsteps of the cloaked figures clattered behind them on the marble floor and they ran for their lives back out into the grounds of the manor heading in the direction of the clump of trees where James had managed to thwart the first attacker.

"I know," James said still gently stroking her hand, "you shouldn't have seen that, you are not trained for the horrors that this job entails."

"What will we tell the Ministry?" she asked.

"That I told you to come with me-"

"No James, no you can't say that, it's not true you told me to stay here but I wouldn't and then you relented, you never told me to go with you, if you tell Abery that they will fire you for endangering me."

"They should fire me," he replied quietly.

"NO!" she bellowed making his head snap up, "You wanted me to stay here, that's what I should have done, we know that, it was my fault that this happened, tell them that I refused to follow your orders, that I followed you instead and that I jeopardised our mission," she went on, "I'm the one who was wrong, they'll give me a wrap on the knuckles and I won't be sent out again but they won't fire me, I'm not actually contracted like you to give or follow orders, if you say you ordered me to come you'll be sent to slaughter, you'll lose-"

"Shh," he interrupted jumping to his feet, he had heard a noise outside and ran towards the flap of the entrance to investigate.

"What is it?" she asked, eyes wild and voice shaking with fear. He ignored her question for a moment as he checked again that their enchantments were holding and it was another minute before he felt her presence near him, "James," she whispered.

"It's alright, they're gone," he replied turning back to find her almost touching him, "they've moved the confounded body and are doing a sweep trying to find where we are but Zabini set up other enchantments around the area so they won't know which one we are concealed beneath, we're safe for now," he added watching her eyes grow even bigger at the comment.

"James, I'm scared," she trembled looking up a his face, he kept glancing around the tent and then back to her anxious to avoid detection and on the alert for any noise from outside, at her words he turned his gaze to her and saw that her whole body was shaking.

"Annemarie," he whispered in a concerned voice, "you're trembling," and he pulled her forwards so he could put his arms around her in comfort.

"I know," she whispered allowing him to hold her close to him, she felt better just being in his arms, safer somehow. She had not forgotten that all the time they had been out there tonight his primary concern was for her safety, when they had hidden in the trees he had pushed his body against hers to shield her from any spells or curses and when they had almost been caught outside the enchantment he had made her run for cover while he fought in the dark with a cloaked figure. He had been professional and done his job but he had been gallant as well and whether because of fear or the way he had behaved she suddenly saw James Sirius Potter in a completely different light, "you make me feel safe," she whispered moving deeper into his arms and wrapping her own around him, his chin rested on her head as he continued to scan the room.

"Listen to you," he tried to joke remembering what their usual banter was like, "never thought Annemarie Watson would be talking about me like that!" she smiled at his comment and lifted her head to look at his face then without thinking about it or even realising why she was doing it the terrified woman pushed herself up on her tiptoes and placed her lips onto his. They locked together and for a second James was too shocked to respond but then his instincts took over and he returned the kiss softly and tenderly. Kisses for James were more often about initiating sex or saying goodnight but this one was different, this one felt reassuring and he didn't have an overwhelming urge to foist himself upon the recipient. His mouth parted and Annemarie's tongue began to explore the inside of his mouth as he started to echo the movement with his own, James' arms were still wrapped around her but had loosened a little and he suddenly realised that her hands had slid up his chest to the top of his shirt and she was slowly unbuttoning it.

Pulling back his head he whispered, "Annemarie," but she put her finger to his lip and continued to unbutton the dark green shirt that he wore, within seconds her hands were inside it and exploring his body he groaned softly at her touch, the feel of her fingernails gently scratching his chest made him feel aroused but not ready to satisfy his own needs. They began to kiss again as she slowly unbuttoned the shirt that she wore and it fell to the ground behind them as she took his hands from her back and placed one of them over her breast. He held it tightly in his hand and squeezed gently running one finger and thumb over the nipple which he tweaked lightly and she leaned into him groaning and pushing her tongue even deeper into his mouth. Annemarie stepped back for a moment and James just gazed at her, in the soft glow of the single candle lighting the tent she looked almost like a goddess, her long dark hair was messy, some of it fell down her back while a few stray sections covered her large breasts which sat soft and peachy in her bra. Without taking her eyes from his face Annemarie pulled down the loose blue jogging bottoms which she wore and stood in the candle light in just a bra and thin cotton pants shivering from a mixture of fear, cold and desire. "Annemarie, what are you doing," James whispered to her still standing stock still and staring at her resplendent body.

"I want you James," she replied.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"But you've always..." he trailed off as she unfastened the bra from behind and it fell away to reveal her beautiful breasts which fell a little and came to rest with erect nipples pointing towards him, "you...I don't...I don't want to take advantage of you," he found himself saying which was something that shocked him as much as it did her. If a stunning woman was standing in front of him almost completely naked James Sirius Potter would never stop to think about the next morning or what would happen after that, no James Sirius Potter would take the girl please her sometimes and then satisfy his own needs before thinking of the next morning and how to get rid of her. But now with his friend and team member stood gloriously in front of him, the girl who he had been trying to get into bed for the last three years, now he was starting to feel that he was abusing his position, abusing the situation and taking advantage of a vulnerable and terrified woman.

"You won't be," she said softly taking a step towards him, "I want this James, I want this now." Then she stepped right up to him and began to kiss him again firmly and more ferociously this time. The bemused man found his hands sliding down to the curve of her waist where they slipped inside the cotton pants she wore and stopped on her pert bottom which he gently caressed as he returned the vigorous kiss. Her hands travelled to the belt of his jeans which she deftly unbuckled and a few seconds later James kicked his way out of them to reveal his own completely naked body. He was now completely aroused and she took him in her hand as she continued to kiss him and stroked up and down his length listening to the soft moans he made at her touch. A few minutes later she stopped and removed her own underwear before laying down and looking up at James through still fear filled eyes, she beckoned for him to lay beside her on the hard cool ground of the canvas tent and he obliged, pulling her close to him to try and stop her relentless shivering, they continued to kiss for a few moments but he made no move to touch her in any other way.

Pulling her head back from his she laid down and arched her back to thrust one nipple towards his mouth, he looked at it for a moment before taking it hungrily and beginning to tenderly lick and suck on it, listening to the soft moans that she made while her hands sought out his hard member again. He alternated her breasts, cupping them gently between his hands and allowing his tongue to cause her pleasure and then he slid his fingers between her thighs and felt her rise to meet him as they gently slipped in and around her intimately. She guided him to bring her to ultimate pleasure and her whole body trembled briefly beneath him before she relaxed and moved his hand gently away from her, she held onto the hand as if in thanks but kept her eyes firmly shut. His lips sought out hers after that and he relished in the fact that he was still happy just to satisfy this gorgeous and terrified girl not at all interested in satisfying his own needs for once. He was amazed by her beauty, whether it was down to her or their situation he did not know but he was almost mesmerised by her and when she finally opened her eyes and used her legs to roll him on top of her he stopped and looked into her eyes brushing her hair back from her face before whispering, "Are you sure?"

She nodded her head at him and tried to smile though she was still clearly feeling an overwhelming amount of emotions, "I don't want you to regret this Annemarie," he murmured but she shook her head at him and began to push gently on his bottom trying to guide him into her.

He pushed himself slowly and then paused when she gasped, he could feel that he was completely inside of her and he waited a few seconds before pulling back and thrusting even deeper, she groaned intensely and looked into his face smiling through pain filled eyes and encouraging him still with her hands. He took his time, moved himself slowly, each time pushing ever deeper until he could hold it back no longer and with one final push and a deep groan he burst inside of her and collapsed onto her naked body covering her completely. He held her tight as they both trembled and tried to regulate their panting breaths, he started to shiver with a mixture of feelings like she had had, only his feelings were for different reasons. He suddenly feared how he felt about Annemarie who had seemed totally different to any other girl he had slept with before, he was scared of how his feelings about sex had suddenly changed in this one act with this one woman. He also felt on edge because of their dangerous situation and he suddenly felt guilty that he might truly have taken advantage of her vulnerable position and abused not only their friendship but his position as a more senior member of their small team.

Annemarie was still shaking and he swiftly moved himself back onto his side where he could pull her close and try to soothe away her fears, he stroked her shoulder and with his wand called blankets to cover them from the beds in the corner. Neither of them spoke for a long time, they just lay breathing and clinging to each other, both afraid to say anything and both on tenterhooks for any sound from outside that might let them know that their enchantments had been breeched.

Periodically through the night James rose and checked the spells again, he dressed hurriedly the first time and when he returned to their little bed in the middle of the room he found that Annemarie had dressed herself and was sitting covered in one of the blankets around the small candle which still burned. "Are you alright?" he whispered sitting beside her and taking the liberty of holding her in one arm.

"A-ha," she nodded turning away from his face and staring at the candle beside them she didn't lean into his hold but she didn't push away from it either and James was more concerned now with their situation to notice that the atmosphere between them had suddenly and inexplicably changed. Eventually Annemarie laid back down and fell asleep on the floor where they had made love earlier while James took up a watchful stance near the entrance to the tent, there had been no more movement outside and he had not heard any noise at all for a few hours. He therefore jumped to his feet in shock when five or six loud pops sounded beside the tent signalling the arrival of some wizards whether they were friend or foe he did not know and he held his wand aloft in front of him as he shouted "Annemarie."

She jumped to her feet immediately and he placed a finger to his lips to make sure she stayed quiet but moments later he released his stance as he heard a familiar voice shout, "Potter, Blaise, Watson the curtains are purple in the opposition's quarters." This was a signal that the people standing outside were Ministry aurors and he immediately opened the tent flaps and stepped beyond the enchantments as more aurors popped into sight along the hedge which enclosed the manor, they were all stood in duelling position with their wands held high ready to defend themselves against any attack.

"Potter," Beerney began when his comrade had come into view, "your cleric did not report back last night what is your position?"

"Zabini is captured sir, we have seen MacNair in the manor house and were seen running back to the safety of our enchantments by various wizards from within the manor, we were unable to send word as it would have betrayed our position and waited as is protocol for assistance."

"Thank you Potter, Blaise is captured you say? What about Watson?" he asked.

"Watson is safe inside sir," he went on gesturing to the still invisible tent, "I think she needs to be back at headquarters, the mission has been a shock for her and she needs to recover sir."

"Thank you Potter, Menson," he went on turning to another auror dressed in Ministry uniform of dark green robes, "will you escort Miss Watson back to the Ministry and debrief her on the situation?"

"Yes sir," Menson replied and with a flick of his wand James removed the enchantments and the tent came into view, Menson disappeared inside it and then reappeared a couple of minutes later accompanied by Annemarie who was still whitefaced and shaky. James offered her a small smile as Menson prepared to side-along apparate her back to the ministry with him but she did not return the smile and James felt a little sullen as she popped out of sight without acknowledging him at all. He suddenly started to feel a lot guiltier about everything that had gone on the previous night.

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"You will be debriefed in Beerney's office Mr Potter," said the new receptionist from the front desk who had come to find him in his office. The grounds and manor house had been searched but were completely empty having been vacated sometime during the night by the Malfoys and their friends. Blaise's tortured body had been found alive but severely damaged and he had been transferred immediately to St Mungo's to undergo treatment to ensure there was no permanent damage to his body. Once this had been done Beerney had instructed James to return to his office to await a call for debriefing and he had been sat waiting for the message for almost an hour when the young blonde haired girl had knocked on his door.

"Thank you," he said solemnly as she turned to leave his room. He trudged wearily to Beerney's office on the same floor passing by the reception desks where the administration staff were busy filing, typing and flooing various people. The activities at Malfoy manor had left the department with a lot of paperwork and an immense task as MacNair and his crowd needed to be tracked down quickly before their numbers could grow even more.

"Take a seat," Beerney said as James entered the room and closed the door behind him, a clerical assistant was sat between them ready to record the meeting and she had a quick quill poised in her hand. "James you are to be commended," Beerney began and his eyes widened a little, "You followed Ministry protocol and followed up Zabini's disappearance correctly, Miss Watson informed us that you waited the statutory sixty minutes last night before setting out after him and ordered her to remain in the tent to contact us in the event that you did not return. She also told us however that she failed to follow your command and set out after you instead of contacting the office for backup," Beereny's face became grave and James' mouth fell open as he continued, "she was foolish to do so and realises how much she jeopardised both the mission and the safety of all three of you, she deeply regrets her actions and is prepared to take responsibility for them herself."

"What...what will happen to her?" James stuttered still in disbelief.

"She has been given a verbal warning and lectured on the seriousness of the mistake that she made, Miss Watson has been suspended on half pay for the next month and will return to a lower position in the department when she comes back." Again James' face fell, she had taken full responsibility for everything and was to be punished when it was also partly his fault for allowing her to accompany him "However James," Beerney went on interrupting his thoughts, "she has told us about your admiral behaviour in protecting her from the hooded men who followed you back to the tent, you were primarily concerned for her safety and took it upon your self to ensure she was not harmed while undertaking the serious breech of ministry protocol that she did. Well done James, without your valiant effort the consequences of her mistake could have been grave, possibly resulting in her death, I am proud to call you a member of my team and I think that last night you showed for the first time your true qualities as an excellent junior auror."

"But," he tried to interrupt.

"Now as far as we can tell Zabini has suffered no permanent damage from his ordeal, his body is weak and he will need time to recover but he is responding well already to his treatment and we are impressed that he did not give away the whereabouts of you and Miss Watson even though she did it for you both." James began to look guiltily at his feet, she had taken total responsibility and it was not all her fault, how could he let this happen?

"Mr Beerney," he began but he was cut off immediately as his senior auror continued.

"Your mission is over James now that the manor has been vacated, you are to return to your usual duties within the ministry for the time being unless we require you to join with another team, at present they are all still staking out the main ex-death eater families as you were but if another situation presents itself like the one you encountered we may need you to go in as part of the back up team. It is usual policy to allow a few days of rest after a situation such as yours so you need not return to work until Monday, however if your help is needed before then we will contact you swiftly and expect your attendance at the office immediately."

"Yes Mr Beerney," James replied glancing up.

"Very well," Beerney said standing up and walking around his desk, "you have proved yourself worthy to follow in your father's footstep on this mission James and I look forward to seeing more from you as your career continues, now I can see you are weary," he laughed, "so may I suggest going home and getting some well earned rest?" he finished shaking James' hand and escorting him to the door. "Jenny," he went on turning back to look at the administrative assistant still scribbling on her notepad, "can you type up the debriefing and have the note sent to Abery as soon as possible thank you?" and nodding her head the young witch rose from her seat and followed James out into the corridor.

He wondered aimlessly past other offices heading in the direction of the clerical stations where he hoped to find Annemarie, but of course when he arrived she was not in her usual position ready to throw some witty comment at him and for a moment he felt a little lost to be there without her. He could still not believe that she had taken full responsibility for what had happened and he was feeling increasingly guilty about not setting the record straight during the meeting, he had tried once or twice to interject but he had been so bemused by it all that he had only tried half-heartedly and allowed Beerney to ignore his rebuttals. "Jenny," he said to the witch who had transcripted his debriefing and was now swiftly typing up the notes at a desk in the clerical area, she looked up into his weary face, "where can I find Annemarie?" he asked but she shook her head at him.

"She's gone home James," she replied, "Beereny told you she has been suspended for a month, she went home straight after her own debriefing and asked that no body contacted her."

"Where does she live?" he asked, "I need to speak to her."

"Sorry James I can't tell you that, I can't give out personal details about staff to anyone even if they are friends," she returned smiling in apology.

"Oh, right....right, thanks...thanks anyway," he said turning and walking slowly from the office intending to use the nearest floo to get back to his flat and get some rest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Why had she been so stupid? Why had she done the one thing she had vowed never to do and become one more notch on the bedpost of the serial womaniser James Sirius Potter? So they had been in a dangerous situation, she had been scared out of her wits, terrified of what she had seen, terrified of what might happen to them and she had needed comfort, but why had she sought out sexual comfort instead of a friend? Why had she allowed herself to kiss and encourage the dark haired young boy who she had told herself a long time ago that she would never relent to? She had always found Potter attractive and in his early days at the ministry she had fancied him for a while but once his reputation had spread she had become guarded against him and made it perfectly clear that no matter how hard he tried she would not go out with him, she did not want to be used and discarded by the man and now she had finally allowed herself to be.

She kicked the bed in frustration and sat down on the end of it, her mind cast back to the tent, she remembered the fear, she remembered the feel of his hold on her, the comfort he was offering, the new side that she saw to him in his determination to play the hero and keep her safe. She had been swept up in the heroism, in his gallantry when they had escaped from the manor and her heart had gone against her mind when she had kissed him. She was even angrier at herself for initiating the situation, she might have made peace with herself if she had given in to him in fear if he had attempted to kiss her but she had sought out his lips, she had wanted the comfort and she had desperately needed to be close to him, as close as two human beings could be.

James Potter would not turn a woman down she knew that and when she had given it to him on a plate he had taken it, true he had made it clear that he did not want to take advantage of her vulnerability and she had assured him that he wasn't, he had also been hesitant at many points, more hesitant than she thought he would be but she did not blame him for doing it in the end, he was a man. She was angry at herself and only herself, she had been stupid and needed to be punished, that was why she had taken responsibility for the mission going awry. In Abery's office she had told them that she had followed James against his orders and jeopardised their safety and she was happy to take the penalty dished out to her to punish herself for giving herself to him.

Annemarie laid back on her bed and allowed her thoughts to travel to the actual act of sex that they had shared in the tent, what annoyed her the most was that she had taken so much pleasure in it too, as mush as she had always imagined she would if she gave into the strong, toned body of James Potter. She had been utterly amazed that he had taken time to pleasure her instead of running headlong into his own satisfaction and she smiled wryly as she remembered his deft fingers sliding against her and bringing her to utmost pleasure, "Argh," she screamed in frustration thrusting a pillow over her face. Why? She was so stupid. When he had finished and they had laid clinging to each other still trembling and listening out for any movement around the tent. That was when realisation had started to dawn on her, she had given herself to the womanising James, and at that pint she had wanted to run as far away as possible but she knew she was trapped inside the ever smaller tent with him until back up arrived. She had grabbed the opportunity to dress quickly and sit up when he had gone to check the perimeter of their enchantments again, sitting up and staring at the candle had somehow stopped her from screaming out loud at her actions. When he had returned and placed a comforting arm around her she had neither welcomed or shrugged it but had remained stony faced staring at the light and berating herself for her stupidity.

When Abery had said she would be suspended for a month Annemarie had been quite relieved knowing that she would not need to face James until at least then although she still did not know how she would act around him now that they had shared the primal act she had vowed never to share with him. Flinging her body back on the bed she covered her face with her hands and tried, without success, to erase the memory of James Potter's muscular lean body from her head. However it was too late now, she had experienced what she truly wanted and had allowed herself to start falling for the one person who would never tie himself down to one girl.

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_Whole auror team debriefing meeting, 9am tomorrow morning in Room C all staff to attend._

The memo arrived at his flat on Thursday evening by Ministry owl, James read it and then cast it aside realising he would need to go in before his official leave was over. It sounded as if something had happened as it was a debriefing meeting which did not usually take place until after a mission was complete and if it involved the whole team it probably meant that they had either successfully captured MacNair or the threat had been alleviated somehow.

He had not been out of the flat in three days since his return from the mission, he still felt guilty about how it had turned out and he couldn't stop himself from thinking about Annemarie and what had happened to her now. He had tried to find out where she lived so he could go and see her but no one would tell her and so he had sat guiltily in his living room playing the whole mission over and over again. He had actually enjoyed the month in which he Zabini and Annemarie had lived in such close quarters, though they were on a dangerous and important assignment they had had fleeting chance to just sit and talk, laugh and joke with each other and Annemarie had wasted no time in berating James in front of Zabini for his womanising ways.

Sitting there and thinking about it he realised that he missed that fun and closeness already and he knew that now they had slept together their relationship would have changed just like he feared it might and they would no longer engage in the usual witty banter about how he could never get Annemarie. She had given herself to him when she was vulnerable and though she had tried to assure him that he was not taking advantage he suddenly realised that he had done exactly that and had jeopardised their friendship completely. James had known all along that she did not want to become another one of his conquests but instead of reminding her of that he had gone ahead and slept with her to comfort her and probably himself instead of thinking about what she really wanted. He suddenly punched the wall in frustration and found himself hoping she would have to be at the debriefing meeting the following day, even during her suspension, as she had been part of the whole mission and he made the decision there and then that he would have to talk to her. He would have to make her realise that he did not want to think of her as one of his conquests but as one of his friends who he would miss dearly if they could not go back to the relationship they had had before they slept together.

"Still lounging around here?" asked a voice from the kitchen doorway, "I thought you'd at least be out at the Cauldron trying to pick up another girl, I mean it must have been over a month since you had a good shag James!" laughed Gloria who was spending the night at their flat again. "Or did you finally manage to get Annemarie into the sack while you were out there alone?" she goaded knowing how adamant the ministry worker was about not sleeping with her boyfriend's best mate.

"Shut it Glors," he shouted quite rudely and she turned around in a huff walking back into the kitchen and realising that something was strangely different about the Potter boy she thought she knew quite well.

"What's got up his nose?" she asked Salamander who was cooking in the kitchen.

"I think it was just the assignment, it was his first real one and it went a bit awry from what he's been allowed to tell me, he's touchy that's all, give him a few days and he'll be back to his usual annoying self!" he replied.

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The next morning James arrived in the auror office at eight o clock and was initially shocked not to see Annemarie at her desk making fun of him for being so early but then he remembered why she was not there and he felt instantly guilty again. He sidled past the reception desk and headed for his office without speaking to anyone and closed the door behind him so he could enjoy a little peace and quiet before attending the debriefing. He had taken Gloria's word and visited the Leaky Cauldron late the previous night, sitting alone at the bar nursing a fat tumbler which the barman, Tom, kept refilling with red firewhiskey. He had felt different about being there, some of his drinking pals were around and they had bantered with each other about the girls in the bar but for the first time in ages he had not taken one of them home with him. A young redhead had started chatting to him after a while and he had laughed politely at her jokes as she looked at him through fluttering eyelashes but when she had moved to kiss him he had pushed her away, the kiss had not felt right, he had not enjoyed it and he did not understand why. The poor girl had been quite affronted by his refusal and she had thrown her drink at him before flouncing out of the bar with her friends, his buddies had wasted little time in making fun of him but James had simply ignored them and turned back to his tumbler of liquid which he had drained before walking to the fireplace and flooing back to the flat.

He sat in his office for another half an hour playing the same thing over and over in his head that he had done all night while trying but failing miserable to fall asleep, why was he feeling so melancholy? Was it because of the mission? Did he feel guilty about sleeping with Annemarie and about letting her take the blame for what had happened to them? Or was it something else? He felt lost and confused and could not work out why.

When the clock on the wall showed quarter to nine he headed down to meeting room C hoping to see and talk to Annemarie, he was missing her witty conversation even though it had only been a few days since he had seen her, why had he never realised before what a good and fun friend she had been? The room was overcrowded as the whole team were there, the new recruits had even been invited to attend and James nodded at his sister's boyfriend who looked much more relaxed than he had the last time he had seen him here on his very first day. He was sat with an olive skinned boy who he assumed was another of the foreign wizards which the department took on each year to encourage inter-country auror cooperation, Raulph waved back at James as he sat down on the other side of the room with a couple of other junior aurors. Most of the administration staff who had been involved in the assignments were sat together at the back of the room and James craned his neck to try and spot Annemarie but she was not there and his heart fell a little as he realised he would still be unable to talk to her.

"Good morning team," Simon Abery said as he entered the room and the hushed conversations fell quiet as they waited to hear what had happened. "I am pleased to say that the mission has been successful, Michael MacNair was captured and taken to Azkaban in the early hours of yesterday morning by Dawson and his team," Abery then pointed in the direction of a weary but triumphant looking group of five aurors sitting near the front of the room. "When they left Malfoy manor, the group which consisted of the young Malfoy, Scorpius, and a few of his own friends tried to hide out in the old Lestrange mansion which has been abandoned for over thirty years. Dawson was stationed on the outskirts of the house and managed to alert us all to their presence early on Wednesday morning and we called in all the aurors still out on assignment to bring down the group and arrest them all. They put up little resistance as they were outnumbered considerably and we feel that the threat to Britain is now under control. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Russia and we will be liaising with the auror department in their Ministry in the hopes that we can aid their cause to bring down the High Lord before he gains too much power or support. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the hard work that you put into your individual assignments, I have read the debriefing notes from all ended missions and realise that we have some commendable junior aurors in our midst," he said glancing over at James who had always been a bit of a favourite to him being the son of Harry Potter who he had worked very closely with at one time and who's wife and family had saved his life many years ago. James looked shamefully at his feet and was relieved that Abery did not mention him by name. "Now, the situation has been resolved much quicker than we anticipated and this is only due to the vigilant and hard working teams before us today and not only would I like to offer them thanks for working together so well and so successfully I would also like to thank them for allowing me to reinstate my retirement and reorganise the party that I am sure you all deserve now that the hard work is over for a while!" he laughed and the team made wolf whistles and cat calls at their boss for a few moments before allowing him to continue.

"I was due to retire at the end of last month but now that this is all tied up I will complete the necessary paperwork and make way for Beerney to take over my position from a week on Monday, which means the party will take place next Friday night when I assure you I will be making the most of the chance to let my hair down and celebrate!" he chuckled and the cat calls and whistles began again in earnest as people began to move around the room, congratulating each other on the successful mission and eventually leaving in dribs and drabs to head back to their offices or to start post mission statutory leave.

James hung around in the room until it was almost empty before approaching Simon and Terence who were collecting piles of paperwork from the table at the front. "Ahh, James," Simon said when he saw the young auror lurking in the room, "a commendable mission son and a chance to show that you have what your father had in him," he continued shaking the boy's hand.

"You should be proud James," Terence Beerney added scooping up the remaining pieces of parchment from the desk.

"I...I...thank you," he replied. "Mr Beerney I was just wondering about...about Annemarie," he went on and then added, "Miss Watson our administrative assistant in Blaise's team."

"Ah, yes, the young girl who went against your orders," he said sternly turning to look at Abery who returned an equally severe look.

"She wasn't at the debriefing, I thought that...that all members, not in St Mungo's of course," he added realising that his own senior auror was not present due to the injuries he had sustained in the assignment, "I thought she would have to attend today," he concluded.

"She is suspended James and not allowed to attend any meetings or set foot in the department until the end of her month's punishment," Beerney replied, "surely you knew that?" he asked looking curiously at James.

"Yes, of course sir, I just...I forgot," he tried to smile, "I just needed to speak with her that's all."

"Now be careful James, don't go trying to cover up for her, she went against your orders and seriously jeopardised your mission and indeed your lives, you are both lucky that the outcome was not more serious, she will be sent a copy of the meeting transcript and will be able to discuss any other concerns on her return to work in three more weeks. Do not worry yourself about it James, you did what you needed to do and the foolish girl will not be taken on any more missions as she committed a serious breech of Ministry protocol. Come along now, you are still on official leave and may go home now that the meeting is over!" he finished as he nodded back at his predecessor and left the room with the enormous pile of parchments.

"James, is everything alright?" Abery asked when they were alone, "You seem out of sorts."

"What? Oh...oh no everything is fine, sir," he replied coming to his senses and opening the door for him to pass through.

"I take it you will be at the party next Friday?" Abery asked smiling at him, "Your parents too I hope? And your uncle of course," he added and James nodded absentmindedly, "no doubt he will bring along some stunning young lady who we will never meet again as is customary for your Uncle Charlie!" he joked and James laughed along half-heartedly.

"That is what we are used to," he replied.

"What about you young man?" he asked, "Will you be attending with a beauty on your arm? I imagine you have little trouble finding someone to date, unlike us older men," he chuckled, "a young, fit, junior auror should have no trouble finding a partner for the party I am sure."

"No...no sir," he coughed realising that he had actually given it very little thought even before it was postponed for the assignment, he had assumed that he would find someone who would be happy to attend an important ministry party, a pretty girl who he could take back to the flat afterwards and shag until the early hours but after everything that had happened he realised that he did not feel like taking any one anymore. He felt after the ordeal that it was not important whether he attended or not and realised that the career he had chosen was suddenly having a rather profound affect on his life. Things seemed so less important now and he realised that he needed to talk to his father and find out if he had gone through the same thing after a dangerous mission, did it affect everyone in the same way or was there something else making him feel this way?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Home alone again James?" Salamander joked when they stumbled through the flat door in the early hours of Wednesday morning, they had spent a few hours in the Leaky Cauldron again as Wednesday was Sal's day off and Gloria was on a night shift at work. They often took to the bar on Tuesday nights and had a bit of a boys night which usually ended in Sal returning to an empty bed and listening to the squeals and giggles of James' latest pull who he would have spent the last couple of hours chatting up. In truth Salamander had missed their boy's nights over the last month while James had been working away and he had been looking forward to catching up with his best friend over a few pints of ale and shots of firewhiskey. However the night had been very different to how they had usually been, James had seemed distant and quiet like he had something on his mind and his best friend was worrying that his first real mission had affected him in some way. "What happened mate did the mission burn you out?" he asked half joking and half serious as James dropped himself onto the couch in their living room.

"I don't know, I just haven't felt myself since I came home," he replied unfastening his heavy boots and pulling them off, Salamander dropped into a chair beside him determined to try and find out what was wrong with his friend.

"You think?" Salamander laughed smiling at his buddy who tried to smile back, "What happened to the ladies man?" he went on, "That blonde was stunning and you practically pushed her away!"

"I know," James said thinking back to the short, pretty blonde who had bought him a drink and then tried to chat away the evening with him. Usually James would have found her irresistible and the fact that she had approached him usually meant that he would no doubt get laid before the night was through but he found that he wasn't interested in her at all. She had talked seductively and batted her eyelids at him flirtatiously but he had been more annoyed by her than turned on and he had eventually made up some tale about needing to cheer up his buddy so he could get away from her and talk to Sal instead. It had seemed so strange to him, normally what they talked about was neither here nor there, James was more interested in getting into their clothes and would listen to anything they had to say while undressing them in his mind and nodding along so that they thought he was more interested in their personality that he really was. That was twice though now, twice when he had blown out a hot girl because he didn't want to take them home for a quick shag and have to find a way to get rid of them the following morning and he couldn't explain why. "I don't know what's gotten into me," he went on when he saw the concerned look on his flatmates face, "I just found her annoying and I wanted to get away from her rather than bring her back here, somehow she didn't seem worthy enough."

"Whoa," Salamander gagged as his eye almost popped from his head, "a hot girl not worthy for James Potter? Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

"I know," James began to laugh, "she was talking to me and all I could think was, my god have you got cotton wool between your ears? She was so annoyingly boring and that was all I could focus on, usually I just listen to them and try to picture what's underneath the clothes but tonight I just didn't want to know!"

"James, are you growing up?"

"I don't know," he laughed, "maybe! But I'm not sure that I like it!"

"So who are you going to take to this party at the weekend?"

"Sal, I haven't got a clue, before the mission I just thought I'd find some girl at the bar but after that one tonight I think I'd rather go alone, even the thought of a good shag at the end of the night was not enough to help me put up with her conversation!"

"Merlin James, it's that serious?" he joked and he received a cushion in the face as his flatmate stood up and headed into his own bedroom alone again.

James tossed and turned for a couple of hours before he fell asleep, why had he been so put off by the attractive girl at the bar? She had been his usual type, long blonde hair, blue eyes, large breasts and a cheeky smile, the kind of girl who was easy to brush off the next morning and who had a trim enough body to keep his interest while she was naked in his bed. So why had he not even wanted to entertain the thought of bringing her back to his bed? What had it been that had made him notice how annoying she was rather than how attractive she was?

He found himself mulling over the question for a long time before he succumbed to sleep and it was late the following morning when he woke to a quiet flat, Salamander was spending the day with Gloria and he had the whole place to himself. He thought back again on the previous evening and realised that he would normally be finding a way to get rid of a girl by now and he had to admit that he did not miss that part of his womanising ways either. It had now been over a week since his last shag and usually when he had gone that long he would be moaning about it to his friends, but he thought back to the experience and instead of missing the sex he found himself replaying the sensual and slow experience he had shared with Annemarie over in his head and he then realised that he felt low again. Why did remembering that night make him feel so sad? It had been a magical experience something he had not had before and something he hoped to recreate again if he ever managed to find a girl worthy to share it with him.

Annemarie, he still hadn't seen her since the morning the aurors had rescued them and he still felt guilty that she had taken the blame for the botch up that they had both made. He wished he could find a way to talk to her because he also again found himself missing their relationship with each other and he feared that the longer it was before they saw one another the harder it would be to go back to how they had been. He still felt guilty that he had allowed the sex to happen and he knew he had to apologise for that as much as he needed to apologise for the way the mission had turned out, he only hoped that she would be at the party on Friday so he could find an opportunity to say that he was sorry.

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Checking her hair in the mirror one last time Annemarie sighed as she opened the door and smiled at her date, unable to bear going alone to the party that she didn't really want to attend anyway she had asked her ex boyfriend, Ryan, to go with her. As soon as she opened the door and saw him in his best robes with an armful of flowers she knew it had been another mistake, he had been trying to win her back for the last six months since they had split up and Annemarie could tell by the smile on his face that he thought that is what she wanted too. Smiling and taking the flowers from him gratefully she let him kiss her on the cheek and then went to put them in a vase before allowing him to escort her by the arm into the fireplace where they flooed to the Ministry one behind the other.

She stepped out after Ryan who was waiting with his hand outstretched for her, she took it and allowed him to steer her in the direction of the banqueting hall where the retirement dinner was due to take place. The room was packed with people from the department and from the ministry and Annemarie was hoping to slip into obscurity between them and not be approached by anyone that she had to work with, especially not James who she was dreading having to speak to. She was sure by now that he would have bragged about her being another of his conquests and after all the time she had spent saying that she would not become one she knew he would enjoy letting the department know that she had been wrong. Her biggest fear for the whole evening was coming face to face with the first person who had heard about her stupidity and she just hoped it was not one of the girls who she had spent the last three years warding away from him.

Ryan had found their table and she slunk away to see who they were sitting with, she was happy to see that it was a few other administrative colleagues who she knew well although she was not looking forward to their taunts about James. The first few girls approached the table and she hung her head in embarrassment but they simply sat down beside her and said how much they had missed her at work and how sorry they were that she would not be back for a few more weeks. There was no mention of James, no awkward glances or knowing looks and within half an hour she was feeling comfortable enough that the gossip had not spread that far and she was able to enjoy at least some of the evening before the inevitable happened.

For James the night had been fun even though he was dateless and so far he was actually enjoying not having to conduct meaningless conversation with someone, he had sat with his sister and Raulph, his parents and his Uncle Charlie who as predicted had brought a new dark haired beauty along with him. They had talked about the mission and James' commendation which Abery had immediately told Harry and the rest of the family about much to his embarrassment, the only down side so far to the evening was that he had not seen Annemarie and he was starting to worry that she had decided not to attend the party at all. James was still acutely aware that she had taken the blame for the assignment going awry and that she had given herself to him through fear and vulnerability, her lack of communication had now led him to think that she was deeply ashamed of her actions and he thought she would assume he had bragged about what they did with the rest of the department however he was sincerely hoping that this was not true. He was strangely desperate not to lose her friendship and was hoping that tonight would give them ample opportunity to discuss the fact that he would not tell anyone about what had happened between them.

It was after the speeches when he finally saw her she was at the other side of the room and dressed in a long black gown which had a cowl neck and a low waist, her dark hair was pulled back off her cherub face and twisted into a high knot which made her appear older and sophisticated, his breath actually caught in his mouth when he saw her and as he watched a tall blonde haired man slip a hand around her waist lovingly all the pieces of the puzzle fell firmly into place. At the sight of the man in dark blue dress robes he felt his blood begin to bubble, his stomach tied itself into a knot and he felt hot around his neck and ears. He realised then and there that he did not miss Annemarie's friendship, he simply missed Annemarie, the reason he had not found the girls in the bar worthy was because they were not her, they were not witty conversationalists or friendly people, they were just girls after one thing, the one thing that James was usually prepared to give them quite happily but the one thing he now knew he wanted to share with only one other person in the world. All that time he had been thinking about the magical experience they had shared he had not been pining for the experience he had been pining for the girl he had shared it with, the tall attractive girl who he had always considered a friend and who he was at that moment wanting to consider a girlfriend.

She looked unhappy, she looked like she didn't want to be there and even stranger she looked like she didn't want to be with the man who was stroking her neck and beaming as if he was the happiest person in the world. James suddenly felt for her, another emotion he was not used to and he found that he wanted to tear across the room in giant strides and kiss her there and then in front of everyone without caring what they thought at all. It was at that moment that he caught her eye and after a quick glance she turned away and excused herself from the small party of people she was talking to and he watched her almost flee from the room. Why had she done that? Was she so embarrassed about sleeping with him? Or was she afraid that he had told everyone what they had done?

"James my boy," said a voice and he was brought back to reality as he turned to face Abery who had come over to talk to his father.

"Sir," he said nodding his head respectfully.

"James, I think you can call me Simon from now on, as of tonight I am no longer your boss! My retirement has finally come," he laughed turning to wink at his father. "You should be proud of your son Harry, he behaved admirably during his assignment when the young administrative assistant failed to follow his orders," James immediately looked guilty but no one noticed, "he kept her safe at all costs and managed to ensure that they were not found, he is a credit to you!" Abery went on still ignoring James' guilty look, "So James, where is the presumably stunning girl who has accompanied you tonight?"

"He has come alone Simon," his Uncle Charlie replied for him, "we are all a little bit worried about him in fact, I did try to bring someone along for him when I heard he was going stag but he politely refused, I don't know what is wrong with the boy!" he joked elbowing his nephew in the ribs.

"Well sometimes a young man just needs a break Charlie, we can not all be like you with a fresh girl every night, although my sources do tell me James that you are more like your Uncle Charlie in that department, but still a night away from the ladies is no sin!" he chuckled rolling his eyes and turning back to talk to Harry and Ginny.

"Excuse me Mum, Dad," James said politely before Abery began a new topic of conversation and he set off in the direction he had just seen Annemarie disappear. She had headed to the corridor outside and alone and he was desperate to talk to her, he could not believe just how much he had missed her in the last two weeks and all he could now think about was kissing the attractive dark haired girl away from any prying eyes. Closing the banqueting hall door behind him to block all the noise he looked around the deserted quiet corridor, he could see no one and started to worry that Annemarie may have returned to the party while he was talking to Abery. After a few minutes checking all the corridors which led off the main one he turned to go back to the gathering feeling a little deflated. His breath then caught in his throat again when he saw her further down the corridor hurrying back to the banqueting hall, her heels click clacked on the marble floor as she walked but he called out her name and she froze. James hurried to catch up with her but she did not turn to face him when he reached her, "Annemarie," he whispered and he saw her shudder a little at his voice.

"James," she said turning to face him and taking a deep breath, "how are you?"

"I'm...I'm good," he replied suddenly feeling a bit tongue tied and not sure of what to say to her, "I...I missed you," he said honestly and her eyes widened in shock. He suddenly noticed how deep and beautiful they were and an overwhelming urge to kiss her overcame him and he had to hold back the urge as she looked strangely terrified to be standing there alone with him. "Are you alright Annemarie?"

"What? Yes...I mean no...I..." she stuttered, she was still extremely angry with herself and was for some reason unable to put words together now that she was standing alone with James. She was so used to being sarcastic and witty with him and she did not know how to talk to him now that she had done the one thing she had promised herself never to do with him. "Sorry James, I... I have to get back inside," she added turning back in the direction of the hall.

"Wait," he said grabbing hold of her bare arm and she gasped at his touch, "sorry," he whispered releasing her, "I wanted to talk to you about...about what happened."

"It was a moment of weakness James, I'm sorry, I was afraid and...and I wish it had never happened so-"

"I don't," he interrupted quietly.

"Of course you don't James, you'd been wanting it since you started working here, you made it clear almost every damn day," she said angrily, "and I was weak and scared and gave in to you, I shouldn't have done that James, I told you that I didn't want to be another notch on the bedpost," she went on glaring madly at him, "and now I am."

"No that's not what I meant...I...I know that you didn't want that and...and I don't want you to be either," he went on taking hold of her hand.

"What?" she asked drawing a breath and looking up at him curiously as her other hand came to rest at her throat.

"I don't want you to be another notch either, I...I want you to be the only notch," he smiled sheepishly and she continued to stare at him in disbelief, "ever since that night all I've been able to think about is what a wonderful and magical experience it was with you, no one else compared and I haven't been with anyone else since then."

"You...haven't..." she stuttered as he took her other hand in his and turned her to face him completely.

"I thought I missed our friendship and our way with each other but when I saw you tonight with someone else, I felt jealous, for the first time in my life I envied another man for what he had, because he had you." James went on, "I know we were in a desperate situation and you were scared but please tell me you didn't give in for that reason only, because I don't think that's why I made love to you."

"Why you what?" she whispered breathlessly, had he just said those words?

"Why I made love to you Annemarie, what happened that night was completely different to any other sexual experience I have ever had, it was always about the sex before but at the manor it wasn't, part of it may have been about comforting you or...or...I don't know but it was different, I wasn't interested in pleasing myself I wanted to do it for you and that is something that has never happened to me before. I know I have a reputation but since we were together I don't want to be like I was anymore, I haven't told anyone about that night, not even Sal and-"

"Nobody?" Annemarie whispered suddenly realising why she had not received any knowing looks or sly glances at the party.

"No," he shook his head, "I didn't want to, I didn't want to brag about it or tell the world that I had slept with you I just wanted to remember it." He looked down at their hands then which were still joined, "I know this doesn't sound like me Annemarie but it's true, I've never felt like this before and it scares me as much as it excites me but I needed you to know how I felt and...and," he looked up into her deep dark eyes then and lost all the words that he had, hoping beyond hope that she would not push him away he leaned in to kiss her slowly and sensuously on her dark red lips which were partly open as if awaiting his touch. He kissed her longingly and she responded to it making his heart leap into his stomach at the thought she might be feeling the same way, her tongue was the first to take the kiss further and as he responded to it he felt her hands unravel from his own and slide up to his shoulders, he moved his own along her slender waist and settled them behind her back where he could pull her closer to him and intensify their kiss even more. It was a while before their lips parted and he opened his eyes to look into her smiling face, she was chuckling to herself and he looked quizzically at her.

"James, you're trembling," she said quietly and he realised then that his body was shaking all over.

"I'm terrified," he whispered putting his head against hers.

"Of what?" she asked pulling him with her as she backed into a deep doorway near where they were.

"Of what I'm feeling," he replied huskily, "I've never had feelings like this for anyone," he continued still shaking but holding her tightly in his arms.

"And you think I'm not scared?" she asked.

"Of me?"

"Of James Sirius Potter, the serial womaniser who says he has some sort of crush on me," she whispered.

"It's not a crush," he replied in a hushed voice, "I'm not sure what it is but I know I want to be with you, please don't be afraid that I'll find an excuse tomorrow or next week, I'm terrified of what I feel but I swear I want nothing more than to feel it." Then he leaned back in to kiss her as she began to fumble with the heavy oak door behind her, when the door opened she fell with it and away from him so she grabbed hold of his tie both to steady herself and to pull him with her into the room.

It was dark inside but James could tell they were in one of the head of department's offices, the walls were clad in oak slats and he could just make out a huge mahogany fireplace which had a variety of wing backed chintz arm chairs facing it. These were the old fashioned offices where many meetings used to take place over a bottle of firewhiskey and a few cigars, where the departmental heads would sit comfortably and discuss what they wanted to do in front of a glowing fire in a place that was more of a living room than an office. The rooms themselves were still used by some of the more important ministerial staff but were now equipped with more suitable office furniture though the old furniture also remained. In front of the enormous fireplace was a large soft rug and Annemarie backed away from James to sit down on it, in the dark he could barely see and he whispered, "Where did you go?"

"Follow my voice," she replied and he manoeuvred his way around the chairs to find her laid out on the rug looking up at him, "come down here," she added and he sat beside her on the rug. "Incendio," she whispered pointing her wand at the fireplace and an enormous glowing fire erupted in the grate, her wand dropped on the floor and her hand came to rest on his shoulder, "you're still trembling James," she whispered softly stroking his shoulder and pulling gently on it so he laid down next to her and placed one hand on her waist she lifted up the hand in her own and kissed his fingers tenderly, "why are you so scared?"

"Because I don't want to get it wrong," he replied.

"Er James I don't think you can get it wrong, you've had plenty of practise mate and you definitely weren't wrong the last time," she said blushing bright red.

"That's not what I meant," he replied smiling down at her, "I mean I don't want to get it wrong with you."

"James," she said, "if you mean everything that you've said tonight then you won't."

"Of course I mean it," he protested, "I can't believe how I feel about you," he went on, "I-" he was cut short as she tugged on his tie again and pulled him down on top of her so their lips hit each other and they began to kiss passionately while Annemarie's hands started to explore James' body, she slid them into his shirt and gently scratched his chest and he growled softly, one of his hands was propping him up and the other stayed on her waist but when she took at and moved it to her breast he sat up and said forcefully, "No."

"No?" she repeated sitting up as well.

"I don't mean no," he said in a softer tone, "what I mean is that you were right when you said you don't want to be another notch on my bedpost, I don't want you to just be that either, the girls I take back there are some random ones that I meet in the bar and..." he looked ashamedly down and let her work it out for herself, "I don't want you to go there yet, I want to take you out, properly on a real date, I want you and me to be different."

"You really do know how to turn a girl on," she whispered leaning over to nibble his ear.

"Annemarie, I'm serious," he laughed wanting to give in to her touch, "you will not be just another conquest, I am not taking you back to my bed until I have done this properly, I respect you too much."

"But...we...are...not...in...your...bed," she teased intermittently kissing his neck and sliding her hands back into his shirt, "so I...can't be...a notch...on the post."

James was wavering to her and his desire to have her on the rug in the office was strong but he knew that he must prove to Annemarie and to himself that he was serious about being with her and he lifted his hands up to her face and gazed into her eyes, "Not here," he breathed kissing her softly while still holding her face in his hands. "For once in my life I am going to do this properly," he said, "and I'm going to tell Beerney the truth about the mission too, you shouldn't have to take all the blame when it was also my fault."

"James you can't," she said completely forgetting how much she wanted to make love to him and realising what he was saying, "you'll be fired."

"No, I'll probably be suspended and put on office duty for who knows how long but I can't let you take all the blame either, I've done nothing but feel guilty for the last two weeks about you taking the blame and about me taking advantage of you."

"I told you then that you weren't taking advantage of me."

"I know you did but I still shouldn't have done it although I don't regret it for one moment now that I've realised what being with a woman could be like," he smiled coyly at her, "but I still need to confess the truth about what else happened and you are not going to change my mind," he added seeing she was about to protest again, "and that is an order that you will follow!" This time Annemarie looked demurely back at him and he leaned over to kiss her again losing himself in her soft lips and gentle caress.

"Then I have an order for you," she whispered when they parted, both breathing heavily and feeling flustered.

"Anything," James replied.

"A date tomorrow night at eight, you can pick me up from my place and take me anywhere!" she told him with a twinkle in her eye knowing full well that whatever his protests she intended to spend a complete magical night with James Potter that would end only when the sun came up on them both.

"What about your date tonight?" he asked and her face fell.

"Oh god," she replied, "he's my ex and I made the stupid mistake of bringing him here so I could avoid you," she added wryly, "I think he's hoping that it means we're back together."

"Well then my second order is for you to make sure he knows you are not!" and with that he returned to kissing her for a few moments more before helping her to her feet and walking hand in hand back to the party with the beautiful tall brunette who he had never imagined himself to end up with. They knew they would cause a stir entering together but the night had ended in an almost inexplicable way which neither of them had expected or even knew that they wanted and they would have to face the firing line at work sometime so why not bite the bullet and do it now?


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Thank you James," Annemarie said as she stood at the door to her apartment. It was almost midnight and they had spent the last four hours in each others' easy company eating and drinking in a little restaurant on the edge of Ottery St Catchpole, it was a wizarding place which was usually full of couples ensconced in cosy corners where they could talk quietly with one another. James had been into the auror office that morning and admitted the truth about their mission and he had indeed received a stern verbal warning from the new head, Terence Beerney. His commendation for his actions on the mission had been taken back and he was suspended without pay for three weeks while Annemarie was reinstated from the following Monday still at a more junior position. James felt that his knuckles had been severely rapped and he knew it could be a while before he saw serious action again but he did not care, the only thing he had been able to think about all day was his first real date with the woman he had never realised that he was falling for. "Tonight was wonderful," the beautiful girl added leaning in to kiss her date and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, as she kissed him her wand fiddled with the door lock and it clicked open behind her, then without saying a word she opened the door and moved slowly backwards bringing him into the apartment with her.

"Annemarie...what...are you doing?" he asked hungrily still trying to kiss her but becoming aware of her actions. The whole evening had been amazing to him and he had never realised that going on a real date with someone could be so wonderful and magical, there had never been an awkward moment between them and he had been amazed at how quickly the time had passed by. When they reached her apartment door he had been disheartened to realise that the night was almost over but he was still determined not to make her into just another girl.

"James, I want you...again," she replied looking up at him through fluttering eyelashes, "I know what you want and I know how you feel and yet again," she teased, "we are not in your bed!"

He laughed at her and replied, "Are you sure?"

"This time...absolutely," she returned reaching up to kiss him again and then taking his hand before turning and walking in the direction of her own bedroom, he followed willingly and closed the door behind them then turned to watch as she lit a few soft candles on the bedside and then knelt down on the bed beckoning him with her finger.

As he walked towards her she began to remove the top that she wore and then unfastened her trousers and discarded them so that she was laid propped up on her elbows in matching bra and pants and James found himself panting as he stared at her glorious body, she had large breasts and a curvy figure quiet different to the skinny girls he usually slept with and he found that he was hungry with desire for her. When he reached the bed Annemarie pulled him down so that he was laid between her legs and she kissed him passionately.

"James, you're trembling again," she whispered looking up at him concernedly, "do you want to do this?"

"Yes," he replied in a shaky voice, "you just make me feel so different, so much more aware of you than a woman ever has before. I want you Annemarie, I want you so much that it makes me nervous."

"James Potter nervous with a woman?" she whispered in reply trying not to sound too surprised.

"Just nervous with you," he said, "because it's not just about me this time."

"James, just be yourself," she whispered kissing him again as she started to unbutton his shirt and trousers.

When his chest was bare she began to kiss it hungrily and slipped her hands into his open trousers, "Wait," he whispered taking hold of her hands and lifting them up to his lips, she looked at him curiously. After kissing each of her finger tips and looking down through them to her smiling face he thrust her hands behind her head and pinioned them down with one of his own. He raised his eyebrows at her as he used the other hand to reach underneath her and unhook the white satin bra which contained her breasts, eying them hungrily he removed the rest of the garment one arm at a time and then slowly and teasingly began to kiss and lick them one at a time while listening to Annemarie's ragged breathing become more irregular. He moved the hand restraining her own and used it to cup one breast while he licked and flicked the end of the nipple with his tongue, she groaned softly and tried to move her own hands back to the bulge she could feel pressing against her thigh but he caught them deftly and this time removed the belt from his trousers which he began to twist around them. After a moment however he paused and looked down at the aroused woman beneath him, "Do you trust me?" he whispered looking at her with concern in his eyes, he had promised not to make her another conquest and he realised that he was doing something which she might need more time to trust him with.

"Yes," she whispered breathlessly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she repeated looking into his eyes with an excited twinkle in her own, "I trust you." Then with a small cocky smile he attached the end of the belt to the head of the bed and then returned to nuzzling her breasts and nipples biting them gently and listening to her soft moans, while removing her thin lace pants. Eventually his hands slid between her legs and began to rub gently against her, he could hear her breathing become deeper as she became more and more aroused and he teased her by removing them at what he felt was a crucial moment and she gave him almost deathly glares which he laughed at before returning and listening to her groans once more. Finally he could tease her no longer as he was secretly desperate to please her in the ultimate way and when she looked at him pleading for him to continue he did so and watched her body rise for a second and then freeze in mid air before shuddering as she made a deeper groan than any she had made before. He moved further up the bed then and held her body close to his as she continued to breathe deeply, a look of complete relaxation fell over her face and he smiled down at her as he unfastened the bonds which he had used to tie her to the bed post.

Annemarie continued to lay with her eyes closed for a few moments longer while James simply watched her and stroked the curve of her waist with one hand until she looked up at him and smiled shyly, "You're mean!" she giggled and then without any warning she pushed James onto his back and sat astride him completely naked and wearing a cheeky grin. He looked back up at her revelling in the fact that she was there and in total awe of how different he felt about being with this amazing girl. He then watched as she slowly removed his shirt and trousers all the while hanging her own naked body above him. Every time he reached out to touch her she moved away and smiled coyly until his hands had returned to his side but after a while she leaned over him completely and let her hair fall around his face before kissing him deeply. His hands travelled up the curve of her waist again and slid around her back so he could pull her body close to his, she relented for a moment but then lifted her body up positioning herself on the end of his throbbing member and slowly she slid herself down him and listened this time to his soft moan.

She moved herself up and down slowly sitting up so he could watch her and seeing the pleasure build up on his face, for a short while she got her revenge and when she knew he was ready to burst inside her she would lift her body off of his and watch as he moaned with frustration and reached out for her. After teasing him more than enough times she attempted to do it once more but was too slow for James who grabbed hold of her hips and moved his own up to meet her swiftly and hard three times making her gasp loudly before letting out a loud and deep breath and freezing in midair for a second. Breathing irregularly James lowered his body back onto the bed and Annemarie dropped on top of him, their chests met and they both lay in silence foreheads touching but eyes closed.

After a couple of minutes James slowly opened his eyes and looked at Annemarie's face which she had lifted away from his own, he smiled at her as she moved her body off of his and laid herself beside him with her head in the crook of his shoulder and her legs twisted around his, he pulled her close and listened to her breathing next to him. He was amazed that he did not want to roll over and turn his back to the girl which is what he would have done with anyone else he had just slept with but as before with Annemarie he wanted to hold her close and listen to her breathe instead of finding a way to get rid of her now he had had his way.

They fell asleep in the same position some time later, neither of them had spoken at all and when James woke in the early hours of the morning he felt happy and comfortable to realise that she was still curled up around him, desperate to use the toilet he moved himself slowly so as not to wake her and once he was out of the bed he stared down at the stunningly gorgeous woman who's hair fell across her shoulders and hid much of the top half of her exquisite body from his eyes. When he returned from the bathroom she was not there and for a fleeting moment he remembered the night outside Malfoy manor when he had risen to check the enchantments and found Annemarie dressed and sitting by the candle light on his return. An uneasy feeling in the bottom of his stomach made him think the same thing might have happened now but a sound to his right made him turn around and he saw her silhouette in the bedroom doorway holding two cups, she was still naked and smiled sweetly at him as she passed over one of the cups and then returned to sit on the bed where he joined her.

Draining the cups and placing them on the side of the bed Annemarie leaned back into James' waiting arms and he pulled her close and whispered, "Last night was amazing."

"I know," she replied and then chuckled before adding, "and who ever thought that James Potter would be a notch on my bedpost?"

"Hey," he shouted pretending to be insulted and then he added, "care to make another notch?" before twisting her over beneath him and starting to kiss her squirming but smiling body.


End file.
